A decline and fall in the future of Italian Astronomy?

Angelo Antonelli; Vincenzo Antonuccio-Delogu; Andrea Baruffolo,; Stefano Benetti; Simone Bianchi; Andrea Biviano; Annalisa Bonafede; Marco; Bondi; Stefano Borgani; Angela Bragaglia; Massimo Brescia; John Robert; Brucato; Gianfranco Brunetti; Riccardo Brunino; Michele Cantiello; Viviana; Casasola; Rossella Cassano; Alberto Cellino; Gabriele Cescutti; Andrea; Cimatti; Andrea Comastri; Edvige Corbelli; Giovanni Cresci; Serena Criscuoli,; Stefano Cristiani; Guido Cupani; Sabrina De Grandi; Valerio D'Elia; Melania; Del Santo; Gabriella De Lucia; Silvano Desidera; Marcella Di Criscienzo,; Valentina D'Odorico; Elisabetta Dotto; Fabio Fontanot; Mario Gai; Simona; Gallerani; Stefano Gallozzi; Bianca Garilli; Isabella Gioia; Marisa Girardi,; Myriam Gitti; Gianluigi Granato; Raffaele Gratton; Andrea Grazian; Carlotta; Gruppioni; Leslie Hunt; Giuseppe Leto; Gianluca Israel; Manuela; Magliocchetti; Laura Magrini; Gabriele Mainetti; Filippo Mannucci; Alessandro; Marconi; Martino Marelli; Michele Maris; Francesca Matteucci; Massimo; Meneghetti; Aniello Mennella; Amata Mercurio; Silvano Molendi; Pierluigi; Monaco; Alessia Moretti; Giuseppe Murante; Fabrizio Nicastro; Marina Orio,; Adamantia Paizis; Francesca Panessa; Fabio Pasian; Laura Pentericci; Lucia; Pozzetti; Mariachiara Rossetti; Joana S. Santos; Alexandro Saro; Raffaella; Schneider; Laura Silva; Roberto Silvotti; Richard Smart; Andrea Tiengo; Luca; Tornatore; Paolo Tozzi; Edoardo Trussoni; Tiziano Valentinuzzi; Eros; Vanzella; Franco Vazza; Alberto Vecchiato; Tiziana Venturi; Giacomo Vianello,; Matteo Viel; Alvaro Villalobos; Valentina Viotto; Benedetta Vulcani

arXiv:1007.1455·astro-ph.IM·July 12, 2010

A decline and fall in the future of Italian Astronomy?

Angelo Antonelli, Vincenzo Antonuccio-Delogu, Andrea Baruffolo,, Stefano Benetti, Simone Bianchi, Andrea Biviano, Annalisa Bonafede, Marco, Bondi, Stefano Borgani, Angela Bragaglia, Massimo Brescia, John Robert, Brucato, Gianfranco Brunetti, Riccardo Brunino, Michele Cantiello

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TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential decline of Italian astronomy due to institutional restructuring, highlighting historical context, recent events, and implications for the future of research in Italy.

Contribution

It provides a historical overview and a critical commentary on the recent institutional changes affecting Italian astronomical research.

Findings

01

INAF was proposed to be suppressed in 2010

02

Uncertainty about the transfer of employees and researchers

03

Concerns about the future of Italian astronomy

Abstract

On May 27th 2010, the Italian astronomical community learned with concern that the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) was going to be suppressed, and that its employees were going to be transferred to the National Research Council (CNR). It was not clear if this applied to all employees (i.e. also to researchers hired on short-term contracts), and how this was going to happen in practice. In this letter, we give a brief historical overview of INAF and present a short chronicle of the few eventful days that followed. Starting from this example, we then comment on the current situation and prospects of astronomical research in Italy.

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Taxonomy

TopicsHistory and Developments in Astronomy · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research · Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation